Horror games on the source engine. The best games on the Source engine

It's not often you see a great game or mod in the horror genre these days. This mod is an exception. This mod can hardly be called amateur, as it is well developed. The plot, graphics, optimization - all this is present in this mod. And so this mod did not go unnoticed by gamers. Today I will tell you about a great mod made on the Source engine. This modification is called "Nightmare House 2" or in Russian "Nightmare House 2".

This modification was created by Hen Mazolski. He was also helped by Harry ".eXeC!" Jeffery, Christopher "Guessmyname" Jones, Pedro "TigerboyPT" Calvo, David Kingery, Danielle McRae, Yoav "Koolfox" Landau, Aidin Ashoori, Ido Tal.

If you look on the Internet, you can find a huge number of mods on the Source engine, but the Nightmare House 2 mod is better and more memorable.

A reminder of what happened in the first part is present in the second part of the mod and is used as a prologue. We play as a man who got into a car accident, "hitting a tree", but this is far from being the case. When leaving the car, we see a small mansion in which we meet the ghost of a girl who, for some unknown reason, has been haunting us throughout the game. In the prologue, we will feel the atmosphere of the game, but there are no hints of the plot itself. Sometimes they scare us with screamers, some sounds appear, because of which we have to turn around.

After walking through the mansion, we wake up in the Never Lose Hope Hospital. How did we get here? What to do next? We will seek answers to these questions. But we will not find the answer soon, and the goal is clear even without it - we need to get out of here as soon as possible. But it will be difficult. We are haunted by this ghost of a girl who mocks us in every possible way, sometimes "psss" yelling from different sides, or hit from the back, or maybe for some unknown reason, completely turn off the only thing that lights our way - a flashlight, and in addition to it monsters who used to be ordinary doctors and patients. Darkness is everywhere, almost nothing is visible. The soundtracks do their thing. A tense environment is guaranteed. Unclear sounds from behind make you look around. Unexpectedly disappearing and appearing doors, clearly aggressive mannequins moving around the room, incomprehensible sounds, rustles, falling floors, hallucinations ... The game has something to offer you. And it is not enough when it turns out so immediately to guess what awaits you around the next corner.

At some point, you see how a helicopter with special forces arrives. These 4 commandos will help you understand how you got here, and what is happening here. But wait to rejoice, do you think they will stay with you forever? No matter how, you just turned away, or the flashlight began to turn off, as one commando was no longer there. Even though it's hard to see. We become their guide in the hospital. But they don't even know what's going on here. The special forces are slowly disappearing, you won’t even notice how one of them will go crazy and try to kill you.

But still, you have a chance, the connection between the last remaining commando and the helicopter has been restored, there is an opportunity to fly away, but still. But suddenly, the pilot says that there is a sharp headache, and he loses control, falling right on top of you. You manage to escape, but the commander of the special forces detachment is seriously wounded in the chest. He tells you what is really happening here. You will find out for yourself if you go through this wonderful mod.

This mod is spooky and atmospheric. Ghost still looks like Alma from F.E.A.R. The mod looks like a complete game. In terms of duration, you can try to go through in one evening, but it’s better to play at night, with headphones, all this will help you plunge into this mod and feel the whole atmosphere of the game. The mod is free and has freely distributed sources.
Good game.

Henry Townshand was with you. Till!

Since the release of the first games on the engine Source developed by the company valve nearly five years have passed. Quite a long time to evaluate the effectiveness of this development. And the efficiency, I must say, is very high. I would call Source serious competitor unreal engine by performance. So, the article presents the most worthy projects, based on the creation valve.

Counter-Strike: Source

Developer: valve
Year of release: 2004

Another line for autographs...

One of the most popular (one might say “folk”) team projects. The desire to clash the forces of terrorists and counter-terrorists does not allow the interest in this game to fade, and the concise gameplay has won it one of the most significant places among the “shells” of eSports. Even though not all fans of the original project decided to switch to the updated version due to some differences in the gameplay, the very fact that the remake managed to break the audience of the super popular Counter strike on two camps already says a lot. Counter-Strike: Source became the first and very accurate shot from a gun source engine, which gave the engine a name.

Developer: valve
Year of release: 2004

Vile strider, why are you hovering over my head? ...

The shot, by the way, was not only accurate, but also double. At the same time with Counter-Strike: Source the continuation of the adventures of Gordon Freeman came out - Half Life 2. The project showed an impressive game physics for its time, including elements of a destructible environment and using a rag doll model when interacting with the enemy.

The hallmark of the game was not only an exciting sci-fi story with Dr. Freeman in the lead role, but also the puzzles characteristic of the series, built on the basis of the laws of physics. It is worth noting that the continuation of the game - episodes One(2006) and Two(2007) - created on the basis of the same engine, but for each episode, specialists valve made further modifications.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines

Developer: Troika Games
Year of release: 2004

Such a crime, indeed, has an "inhuman face."

Proving that this engine is applicable not only for creating high-quality FPS, but also RPG, Studio Troika Games developed a project Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines. This game will tell us about the difficult life of a vampire in the modern world of people. To survive, you will have to join one of the vampire communities, which will largely determine the further development of the plot. The battles that will fall to your lot will allow you to improve your skills, both combat and social. And the presence of a large number of functional skills and various clans makes the gameplay very variable.

Dark Messiah of Might and Magic

Developer: Arkane Studios
Released: 2006

Overgrown baby doll.

The fantasy world also did not bypass the development valve. On the base Source slasher was released Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, the plot of which develops in the world of Ashan, known to us from the game Heroes of Might and Magic V and its additions. Three branches of your character's development will allow you to master the professions of a warrior, mage and assassin. Skill points are given not for the elimination of the population, but for the completion of the mission, so there is not much point in getting involved in every oncoming mess. The points received can be distributed to any of the branches of development at your discretion - you can easily grow an interclass character. However, since the number of missions is limited, it will not be possible to fully develop all three branches.

The game gained popularity thanks to a very successful combat system and advanced game physics, which made it possible to use the interactive environment for one's own purposes - drop objects on opponents, douse them with oil and set them on fire, throw enemies off cliffs, push them onto spikes, etc. By the way, if you have always had a desire to hit the demon with a chair, then in Dark Messiah you can make it happen.

Developer: valve
Released: 2007

All professions are important - choose according to taste.

Team Fortress 2 It's a team-based first-person shooter. In its style, the game is a kind of caricature of such projects - the animation of the characters is cartoonish and comparable to cartoons, and the plot is a parody of the attempt of various corporations to implement the idea of ​​world domination. However, the battles in the game are very serious. And the presence of nine classes of highly specialized characters (Pyro, Engineer, Spy, Heavy, Sniper, Scout, Soldier, Demoman and Medic) with fixed weapons and with their own advantages and disadvantages makes teamwork the key to success.

portal

Developer: valve
Released: 2007

When playing with the box, don't "play the box".

In the same year, as part of orange box project released portal, which is a kind of puzzle in the skin FPS. Apparently in valve decided that people began to pay little attention to logic games. The only weapon that will be allowed to save your miserable cybernetic life will be the portal gun. This ingenious device allows, by shooting at a wall, to create portals connected to each other, through which not only your mortal body, but also other objects pass. Do you think it's easy? And try to resist with this toy turrets that shoot with quite real cartridges.

Developer: valve, Turtle Rock
Year of release: 2008

Behind the wall they are already growling, but we don’t care - we have a smoke break.

zombie-hateful FPS Left 4 Dead became another example of the fact that the main characteristic of games created on the basis of source engine, is a strong gameplay. Four characters, who were the only ones alive in a city filled with the restless dead, of course, have one common goal - to survive. Without going into details about the reasons for the appearance of the army of the undead and not particularly concentrating on the plot, the game gave a new idea of ​​​​computer intelligence, showed a very competent and exciting gameplay.

Developer: ACE Team
Released: 2009

Smile - you are filmed.

This time Source served as the basis for a very extravagant project Zeno Clash, which can be called primitive FPS, and a first-person fighting game. Being expelled from his native tribe for the murder, the main character is forced to travel around the game world, showing the players all his oddities. Characteristic features of the game are dynamic fights and the indescribable atmosphere of a fantasy world in which everything is turned upside down.

Drawing a conclusion about the effectiveness of the engine, we can say that projects created on its basis, as a rule, do not shock us with ultra-realistic graphics. Instead, they demonstrate high quality game physics and good gameplay, allowing games to stay on the wave of popularity for a very long time. To a greater extent, of course, this last characteristic is the merit of the developers, but underestimate the merits source engine, which made it possible to realize their creative impulses, is also not worth it.

The engine is still a highly sought-after technology. Based on it, several different projects are currently being developed, including,, (currently temporarily suspended), and.

The Source engine was released in 2004. In the thirteen years of its existence, it has received twenty-four updates, promoted dozens of games and has not lost its relevance. And although Valve is now actively engaged in Source 2, the original is still in incredible demand. Naturally, an engine of this quality has spawned a lot of great games, which we will tell you about today.

10th place - Zeno Clash

A 3D fighting game with shooter elements and a first-person perspective developed by the indie studio ACE Team in 2009.

The history of Zeno Clash goes back to 2003 - the year when the ACE Team was just formed. At that time, the game was called Zenozoik - after the universe in which the story unfolded. And although the project was canceled a few years later, the developers retained the idea, which in 2007 was embodied in the announcement of Zeno Clash - a game in the same universe and in the same genre, but on a new engine - Source.

Zeno Clash is very unconventional and original compared to the mainstream games. At one time, it did not stand out with either graphics or physics, and the audience as a whole greeted this project coolly.

The work of the ACE Team is precisely that sad case when a really worthwhile game, book or film is bypassed by criticism, because of which, as a result, the product simply disappears in the gray mass of identical projects.

Only in this you will play as a man who, in the first ten minutes of the game, will kill his own father and mother, who are actually enclosed in one creature - a hermaphrodite named Papo-Mama.

The game is incredibly grotesque - the whole action takes place in such full of strange and hostile creatures. You, armed with no less strange weapons, will have to fight off monsters and fight for your own life.

Another distinctive feature of the project is the combat system, the realism of which was provided by Havok - the Source physics engine. When fighting with opponents hand-to-hand, you can use key combinations to carry out various tricks and send them to a beautiful knockout. If you missed this project - be sure to catch up.

9th place - Titanfall 2

First person shooter game developed by Respawn Entertainment. The latter was formed by people from Infinity Ward, who, having left the studio, lost the rights to use the IW Engine. For the TitanFall series, they had to look for new technology, which was generously provided by Valve.

We decided to put the second part of the sensational shooter in our top, despite the fact that the first is also a high-quality project. In the sequel, the developers fixed many errors of the original, and also added a lot of interesting innovations.

The Source engine has been slightly reworked - the developers have improved the rendering system, modified the sound engine and scripting system, and rewritten the network code to provide a more stable connection.

Generally, remained the same game about the confrontation between huge robots and human pilots. If at one time you appreciated the first part, or just want to try out a new high-quality shooter, then the creation of Respawn Entertainment will definitely not disappoint you.

8th place - Left 4 Dead

Another shooter from Valve, created, of course, on the Source engine, has become a huge success. Like Epic Games or id Software, the studio created games in the same genre, but nevertheless always offered something new: some fresh feature, a different universe, a cooler storyline, and so on and so forth.

Left 4 Dead, using the then unused , showed the entire industry what prospects co-op shooters and stories about the living undead have.

In L4D, up to four players found themselves in the open spaces of a huge level full of zombies. They needed to get to a safe place by going through the location from start to finish.

The game had a lot of different weapons, the firing system of which did not differ from CS: Source. But despite this, it was interesting to play Left 4 Dead, because, apart from the walking corpses killed in 1-2 shots, the players were opposed by zombie bosses, each of which could instantly kill the whole team.

It is also noteworthy that the bosses in the game differed from each other in appearance, characteristics and behavior.

Today, L4D has a full-fledged sequel, the multiplayer of which is still played by tens of thousands of people. It is possible that the release of the third part is not far off, since the second came out back in 2009.

7th place

This game is the best example of the benefits of Source. Made on the basis of Half-Life 2, Garry's Mod offers gamers an almost limitless sandbox in which the lion's share of the gameplay lies directly in the creation of levels.

In Harris Mod free mode, each player can open a huge interface with all sorts of objects from most of Valve's Source games, then select any item and place it anywhere. The laws of physics can be changed by session participants in the same way, as well as textures and sizes of locations.

By choosing a map you like or creating one yourself using sketches, you can then set the rules and conditions you want, creating an essentially unique mode for the game. Thus, in Garry's Mod, players entertain themselves. Definitely one of the best sandboxes of our time.

6th place - The Stanley Parable

A visual novel punctuated by interactive scenes designed by sole programmer Davy Rinden. Initially a normal modification on the Source engine, the game later developed into a full-fledged project released on the same engine.

In The Stanley Parable, the game is played in 1st person, restricting the player to a certain type of action - interacting with various objects and walking. The plot is built in an extremely unusual way and develops through voice-over, which leads the gamer through the locations.

The action begins with the fact that Stanley's employee, who was doing routine business at the computer, was distracted and noticed that all his colleagues were gone. The hero decides to look into what happened and sets off to “travel” through the labyrinths of the corridors of a giant office.

Throughout the journey, he will be accompanied by a voice-over of the narrator, commenting on Stanley's actions and thoughts. Whether or not to obey him is up to the player, although actions that go against the voice create a ton of interesting situations and switch the narrative of the plot from rail to non-linear. There are more than 10 endings in The Stanley Parable.

5th place - Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines

In 2004, Troika Games, the founders of which were at the origins of the creation of Fallout, released a seemingly dubious and nondescript project - Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines. It seemed inconspicuous to many because of the vampire theme, which rarely looked into the gaming industry, and therefore aroused doubts. How wrong were the skeptics...

The game from the creators of Fallout, who have already managed to show their skills, turned out to be incredibly unique and interesting. Bloodlines was developed on the basis of the board game of the same name, in the world of which werewolves, bloodsuckers and other phantasmagoric creatures oppose. The player, being a newly converted vampire, had to join one of the clans and solve the mystery of a mysterious artifact.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines was one of the first projects on Source, appearing on store shelves at the same time as Half-Life 2. , incorporating only some elements of the action.

Shooting and other charms of the combat were in the background, when the role-playing system was based in the center.

Only thanks to branching dialogues, heaps of possible endings, non-linear history and the plot itself, the game was awarded many laudatory reviews and generally received recognition from the players. If not for this, the abundance of bugs and poor technical implementation would have drowned the game in a swamp of time. If you miss real RPGs, then be sure to try out Bloodlines - the game will not disappoint you.

4th place - Dark Messiah Might and Magic

Before Dishonored company managed to be noted for no less epic fantasy action with RPG elements - Dark Messiah Might and Magic, which the developers created on Source. Apart from the story and the universe, in many ways these games are similar and thoroughly demonstrate how the studio has evolved over the years.

And although Dishonored was developed on Unreal Engine 3, the combat system of the game is incredibly similar to Dark Messiah. Simply put, the latter was the first experience for the studio, where they were just studying.

But that doesn't mean that Dishonored is necessarily better than DMMaM. Dark Messiah Might and Magic is based on Source, which, like in the case of HL2, allowed the developers to realize an incredibly interactive world with many "living" items.

The presence of Havok gave Arkane the ability to introduce interactive ropes that could be cut to throw items at players on platforms. Any opponents could be kicked or pushed right into the spikes in the wall, into the abyss and into many other traps. Many barriers and buildings were allowed to break, but with such frequency that Half-Life 2 itself would envy.

The combat system, on the other hand, made it possible to combine various schools of magic and ordinary strikes, freezing enemies and then breaking them with a sword. With a successful hit, the player could even get an instant kill. Finally, as the game progressed, the gamer discovered more and more new skills until he learned the final ability - turning into a demon.

3rd place - Portal 2

A unique game that stands out from the general canvas , is Portal 2, which was developed by Valve itself. Considering the Source engine, the game was painfully similar in appearance and gameplay to a mod for Half-Life 2, but it came out completely different in terms of genre.

The whole essence of Portal 2 was based on puzzles, most of which were related to portals. Name on the hands of a special gun, the players had to open gaps in matter (at two points), and then go into the open space.

The highlight of Portal 2 lies, who would have thought, in physics - the main advantage of Source. In addition to the many interactive objects, the game also included a liquid that had to be interacted with while solving puzzles. So, the orange liquid increased the speed of the gamer, while the blue liquid allowed repelling from the surface of this color.

Another innovation was "dense color bridges", which were projected as barely visible bridges. The player could transfer them to the necessary places through portals.

2nd place - Dota 2

This MOBA has never been heard of except by a person who has never touched a computer and lives somewhere in the tropics of Brazil or the Russian taiga. Originally a mod for Warcraft 3, the "game" (as well as its developer) passed into the hands of Valve, which saw great potential in this project and decided to invest a little.

As a result, the mod was embodied in the form of a whole game - Dota 2, which today is one of the most popular MOBA games and is second only to League of Legends.

Dota 2 entered beta back in 2011, working on the Source engine. The "test" went on for several years until the game was brought to one hundred percent brilliance. In 2015, Valve decided to move their flagship project to Source 2, which is still being developed. However, Dota 2 was the first game to be released on Source 2, as the official release came only after the postponement.

The game supports a lot of modifications, and also often receives seasonal updates from Valve, which add new maps, modes, and more. The main discipline of Dota 2 is a standard match of 5 vs 5 players who fight among themselves and with AI units. The ultimate goal of the match is to destroy the enemy base.

1st place - Half-Life 2

The most famous game on Source is undoubtedly Half-Life 2. At one time, the adventures of Gordon Freeman swept through the gaming industry like a grandiose storm, leaving the then favorites in the past and putting forward new standards for the genre.

HL2 has won a ton of awards, including Spike VGA 10's "Best Game of the Decade" and it's all thanks to the ingenuity of the developers who managed to create such a feature rich engine.

Before Half-Life 2, gamers could not have imagined that such a detailed interaction between the player and the world could be realized in games.

In HL2 levels, there were a lot of objects that could be lifted, thrown and destroyed, which the game's signature weapon, the gravity gun, did an excellent job of. The developers managed to achieve such realism with the help of the popular Havok physics engine.

The first game on Source was CS: Source, focused on multiplayer. It was there that players could arrange session matches, fighting against each other.

True, there was no alternative to the promising shooter until a few months later, Valve released HL2. They also released the SDK for free, a special software package that allows you to work with the Source engine based on Half-Life 2.

Soon, the players themselves began to create maps, the variety of which exceeded all possible limits.

A great single-player game and constantly evolving multiplayer - that's what flaunted the masterpiece from Valve. This is a cult project, which is not recommended to be missed even after so many years.

Video: Half-Life 2 gameplay

Like if you liked it

All lovers of unusual experiments can already try out the first levels of the game Half Life 2, created on the very first version of the Source engine. Once it was considered quite advanced and showed a high level of graphics.

The development is handled by programmer Sockman111 and his team of five people. Together they hope to complete their demake plan Half Life 2 on the GoldSource engine. According to the site, the team had to abandon many canon things, including three-dimensional models, more or less realistic animation, and so on. Of course, the graphics have undergone significant changes, and it looks like the game was made in 1998. All this developers demonstrated in the trailer.

Demakes rarely appear on the scene, usually players are more interested in the process of porting an old game to a new graphics engine. In addition, Half-Life 2 has already become the target of demakers several times, but they still have not been able to complete their work. Sockman111 still hopes to succeed in his endeavor and has already posted the first levels of his project online.

At the moment, the development team is discussing whether it is worth degrading the graphics even more, since it looks somewhat better than the first Half-Life in terms of texture resolution. On the other hand, the developers are also going to give players the option to make the graphics more beautiful as an option.